CONTROLLER-General, Nigerian Prisons Service, NPS, Dr Peter Ekpendu, has ordered an investigation into allegation by four kidnap suspects in Police custody in Rivers State that a prison inmate on awaiting trial coordinated their kidnap activities from the Port Harcourt Prison with a mobile phone. Prison-Service File: NPS officials NPS Public Relations Officer, Enobore Francis, who spoke in Port Harcourt, yesterday, said that the Controller-General, Dr Ekpendu, had set up a high powered investigation team made up of senior officers of the Nigerian Prisons Service to look into the issue, adding that their findings will be disclosed to the media at the end of the exercise.
He said he was in Port Harcourt to brief the media after reading about the allegation by the suspects in Police custody. He said: “The Controller-General of Prisons, on reading the report, immediately directed that the matter be thoroughly investigated by a team of senior officers considering the weight of the allegation. “He has vowed that anyone found culpable in the saga will be made to face the full wrath of the law as the Nigerian Prisons Service is a disciplined organisation established to reform the maladjusted using force of personality and leadership, therefore, it cannot afford to harbour persons of questionable integrity within its ranks.” The prisons image maker also spoke of the state of Port Harcourt prison, saying that the facility which was built to accommodate 804 inmates currently accommodates about 3,613 and out of that number, 3,199 are on awaiting trial.
“Port Harcourt prison was established in 1900 with a carrying capacity of 804 inmates but the same facility presently houses about 3,613 prisoners. Out of this number, about 3,199, representing 89 percent, are awaiting trial prisoners,“ he said. He added that the prison authorities run different rehabilitation programmes for the inmates, including vocational skill acquisition programmes.
END
Be the first to comment